A/N: I do not own the guys and gals and since I am not making anything from these works please don't sue me Mr. Kripke. I do own all OC's that appear. For everyone out there reading, reviewing and yes lurking: You are all the very best!!!
Martyred-Wings- Thanks for the glowing review! All will come to light as the story progresses!!!
Half the team races to find Afriel as the others remain in Phoenix….
Markus grabbed the heavy bag then dropped it at his feet with dull heavy thud. He slid two handguns in the waistband of his pants and adjusted the Saint Michael medallion hanging off his neck. The silver pendant was cool against his skin offering him the tiniest amount of comfort. With Dean still locked within the recesses of his mind, they would be down one which perhaps was Lilith's plan to begin with.
Divide and conquer.
As Markus continued preparing, Sam was seated outside on the back deck surrounded by several bottles of beer. He told the immortal he would stay behind now that Gabriel and Assiel were here. He wondered how the angel was found as no one was sure where Lilith had kept him. The hunter shrugged his shoulders lifting the longneck bottle to his lips.
"I don't think Dean would want you out here in this state, Samuel," Gabriel appeared alongside the hunter. The Messenger's hands were shoved deep within his jacket as his green eyes were fixed straight ahead towards the skyline of Phoenix.
"If you're here to lecture me, Gabe, you can blow it out your ass," Sam's speech was slow and drawn out as the beer began taking effect. The Archangel sighed as he sat down across from the hunter seeing the pain in those dark brown orbs.
"I am not here to lecture you, Samuel. I know you are hurting over what happened with Dean but sitting out here getting drunk and playing the pity card won't garner shit from any of us," Sam's eyes went wide with shock and slight hint of amusement at Gabriel's choice of words. The Archangel kept his eyes level with Sam's as he continued.
"There is a bigger picture here and in case you haven't forgotten there is a war being waged and six billion lives are at stake here. Did you forget that tiny detail Sam? If Lucifer is allowed to walk the Earth it will be a literal Hell on Earth and you brother of all people appreciates that."
"So, what's your point?" At this point Sam wasn't caring about what Gabriel was telling him. All he wanted was to sit down and continue downing his beer before it got warm and he loathed warm beer. The Archangel rose and in one swipe smacked the beer from Sam's hand hearing the bottle land in the grass. Sam slapped his palms against the arm rests then rose to his feet challenging the Messenger. Gabriel stood there stoically unmoved by Sam's show of anger.
"My point is, Samuel, is that you better start caring. Your brother lies in a state of imprisonment deep within the recesses of his own mind and yet you are out here having a little pity party for yourself! No one has been left unscathed by this war, no one. My own daughter still carries the scars of Lucifer's taint on her heart. And let us not forget what Samael did to her when he possessed you. Or must I remind you about Tariel nearly dying when Lilith's Hell beast damn near tore her to shreds right before your brother's eyes! And as I stand here Markus and Raphael are preparing to leave with Assiel to find Afriel who is suffering at the hands of Lilith and Damon as I stand here trying to get it through your thick skull that you better start fucking caring! And you of all people should understand this! Your brother needs you."
Sam was shocked and at a loss for words at the language spilling from Gabriel's mouth. The Archangel inched closer towards the stunned hunter until he was mere inches from his face. Blue and green swirled angrily in Gabriel's eyes. Sam stood rigid as the Archangel continued tearing into him for his behavior. He knew he was hiding not wanting to see his brother lying there incoherent like some mental patient in Bellevue. Dean was the stronger one, the leader. The one Sam looked up to his entire life. Gabriel stood there was one by one the tears began falling. The Messenger could see his tough love hit home as Sam sat down holding his head in his hand. The hunter's body was wracked with his sobs making the man look so vulnerable and helpless.
The Messenger stood over Sam as his hard stance began to soften. His point well taken as Sam continued crying not withholding anything back Gabriel knelt down placing his hands firmly upon each of Sam's shoulders steadying his shaking body. The younger man wiped away his tears and nose with the back of his hands then looked up at the Archangel seeing the indifferent stance gone replaced now by one of compassion and understanding.
"This had to be done, Samuel. I had to make you see. Now you understand."
Sam nodded his head as his thoughts drifted to Dean and Tariel then to Afriel. Afriel! While he was sitting here in self wallowing, the little angel was suffering unspeakable horrors at the hands of Lilith. He had helped Sam begin to understand who he was and yet he sat here feeling sorry for himself like some little selfish bitch.
Wiping his eyes and nose one last time, Sam stood and hurried back inside. Gabriel smiled as his eyes followed the taller man rush inside.
Tariel remained vigil by Dean's side keeping his clammy hand held tightly within her warm drier one. She refused to leave his side only taking water and small amounts of food from Brady. Brady too had decided to stay offering to take over allowing her time to rest. When she did rest the angel stayed by Dean's side permitting a few hours at most to allow her body a break. She was mentally and physically exhausted yet she refused to relent knowing Dean needed her. Every time she looked into those beautiful emerald depths Tariel was greeted with a hollow expression that broke apart her heart.
Brady watched the angel with a heavy heart of his own. Dean had put so much on the line time and time again. When he was with Brooklyn the hunter fought to keep her safe nursing her back to health when the werecat nearly killed her in Illinois. Or the time when Jo went all Fatal Attraction almost killing Brooklyn not once but twice and nearly killed Dean in the process. Brady came up beside the angel and wrapped a supportive arm around her shaky shoulders. The angel leaned up against her friend allowing him to encircle her with his other arm.
"What if he doesn't come back?" The angel's voice muffled against his shirt.
"Don't think such things, Tariel. I know things are bad now but remember it's always the darkest before the light," Brady rebuffed Tariel's doubts. He couldn't stand to see her in such pain and hurt wishing he could lift the veil from up and over her soul.
Raphael knocked on the door causing the angel and hunter to look up. He was clean now and well rested. The Healer entered the panic room seeing Brady comforting his sister. She would need all the support and love in this time of darkness and uncertainty. He looked down at Dean as he remained unchanged from when the Thing had reached inside and poisoned his mind. The Healer felt helpless and useless as everything he tried to restore Dean back to normal had failed. This was something powerful and ancient that kept a ruthless grip on the elder Winchester.
"I wanted to come down to say we are getting ready to leave now. Markus, Assiel and I have received a lead from one of Brooklyn's spies about a possible location on Afriel."
"Brook's helping? I thought she and Cas were looking for Seth."
"Well she dispatched one of her best scouts to assist us. She has been a sorely needed hand for us."
Brady smiled and nodded as he described his best friend to a T. He released his arms from around Tariel allowing her to rise and say goodbye to Raphael.
"Be careful, brother," she whispered to the Healer.
"I always am, sister," he wiped away her tears before turning to leave. Tariel and Brady watched as the Archangel left in a gust of wind and flapping of feathers. Brady came up beside her squeezing her hand in support.
"I'm going to head upstairs for something to eat and drink. I'll bring something down for you. Any special requests?" The angel shook her head sighing as she returned to Dean's side. Brady decided to take his time and allow his friend some time alone with her beloved hunter.
Sam was at the table being force fed coffee by Gabriel in an attempt to sober the man up.
"Gabe, I gotta stop, take a break, take a breather ya know? Besides, I need to use the can," The Messenger raised an eyebrow at the expression. Sam felt the need growing almost screaming as he leapt up and darted down the hall nearly knocking Brady down along the way. The younger man looked back with a bemused expression on his face as he entered the kitchen.
"What's that all about?" Brady hitched his thumb in Sam's direction.
"He said he needed to use the can?" Gabriel tilted his head confused by the phrase. Brady nodded in understanding as he poured a cup of coffee for himself and the Messenger.
"He needed to take care of business, drain the lizard," Gabriel looked across with a definitive expression of confusion. Brady sighed as he realized Gabriel still didn't get it.
"He needed to use the bathroom," the light clicked on for the Archangel as he finally got it.
"Well why didn't he just say that?" Brady shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. Several minutes later Sam reemerged in the kitchen seeing yet another full steaming cup of coffee waiting for him. He groaned at the sight as Gabriel looked up with stern green eyes tinged with blue. Not wanting to piss off the Archangel anymore, Sam quickly complied and took a drink appeasing Gabriel.
"How's Dean?" Sam found his voice shaky and cracking with each word. Brady finished up his drink and paused for a moment choosing his words wisely.
"He is still locked inside, Sam. Raphael tried everything in his arsenal but no dice. Whatever that bastard did to him invoked some seriously dark magic. We're talking probably Lucifer's mojo here. But as long as we keep him in the panic room he's safe. Tariel won't leave his side and hasn't slept or eaten that much in a few days. I've been watching Dean when she did take what little rest she did. She is putting up a brave front but I know she's hurting."
Sam felt the pangs of guilt stabbing at him like sharp deadly blades. Gabriel was right. Dean needed him. Needed him to be strong and keep fighting. Gabriel saw the turmoil in the young man's eyes as Sam took another drink. Green eyes were trained on the hunter as Sam continued drinking. He pretended to ignore the rich emerald disks remaining trained on him and fought to keep his gaze averted from Gabriel's. Brady could sense something between the angel and Sam, something unspoken. He darted his eyes between the two men anticipating what was about to come next.
"Samuel, may I have a word with you?" Sam slowly put is mug down. Shit, he thought to himself feeling his hands pushing his upper body up and away from the table. Swallowing hard and taking a deep breath the hunter followed the Archangel outside.
Sam was relieved to see not the hard icy stare he was greeted with earlier but one of neutrality.
"Samuel, there is something you need to know. It involves you life as Remiel. Afriel didn't show you what happened did he?" Sam shook his head confused. Gabriel nodded knowing he would have to tell Sam himself. Sitting down on the table, he motioned for Sam to join him to which the hunter complied by settling down beside the Messenger. Gabriel turned and looked at Sam seeing the anxiety he was fighting to keep in control. He knew what he was about to show the hunter wasn't going to be a cakewalk but what other choice did he have? Sam had to know.
"Gabe, what is it?" Without speaking the Archangel turned and pressed two fingers gently upon the hunter's forehead. The heavy sinking feeling slammed into Sam like freight train as he could sense his body falling backwards into the abyss.
Afriel screamed but nothing came out. He couldn't look down at his body or what remained of it. Alistair had taken his time reveling in his handiwork. The angel had heard his tormentor whistling and humming with each slice and rip. He tried opening his eyes only to find to his horror that two empty sockets stood where once soft brown eyes lay. Intestines and viscera were strewn about the wooden platform slick with blood and other fluids. The pain was great, so great that with each slice and cut Afriel could feel nothing. His heart still beat steadily in his chest which was the sole source of solace for the little seraph as he remained shackled.
"Picasso, Van Gogh, Michelangelo and Rembrandt eat your hearts out," Alistair snickered as he stood there nodding in self satisfaction.
"One of my best works yet," he praised himself turning to grab his favorite blade ready to start all over again. He spun around to see Afriel intact again. The little angel looked up realizing he could see once again. But the joy was short lived as he realized soon it would be robbed from him once again by Alistair's hand.
"Round five," the demon whispered in Afriel's ear as the sharp blade gleamed against the fire. The seraph closed his eyes and began to pray hoping someone anyone could hear him. His pleas were cut off when the sharp stabbing pain of the serrated blade dug deep within his side moving up in a saw like manner. Afriel cried out in pain as Alistair smiled with a sickening glee.
From the shadows, Lilith looked on as she fingered her lover's pendant in her cool hands. Soon it would be reunited with its rightful owner. The demon could feel the power of the amulet within its heavy weight. Lilith held it up to her eyes as she could see it begin to glow softly in the firelight. Her green eyes flashed as Lilith anticipated the day she would place around Lucifer's neck. For now she would keep it around her own slender neck.
The rain was beating hard against the metal roof of the warehouse as lightning streaked across the sky. The bright trails of light spread out like long bony fingers reaching out to the three men as they glared hard at the four figures remaining deathly still across from them. Assiel's eyes narrowed into tiny slits as he recognized one of the demons.
"Well if it isn't Assiel? Tell me Assiel, did you miss me?" The lead demon hissed glaring at the angel with cold black depths.
"About as much as I miss a boil on my ass," the angel spat back. Raphael looked over with a slightly amused expression as Assiel kept his hard stared fixed on the demon.
Darius chuckled slightly. "My, haven't we been hanging around the mud monkeys for too long? Do you use that language around Daddy?"
Assiel's jaw clenched tightly as did his fists. Darius had committed unspeakable horrors upon Assiel when he was taken that day. Afriel had been dragged away by the demon's goons as Lilith looked on. She had hunted the three angels that held the pieces of the Eye which belonged to her lover Lucifer apparently succeeding in her mission. Lilith had left the angel at the mercy of Darius not caring what he did to the seraph.
His vessel was still marked with cuts and gashes that were continuing to heal. Seemed Darius like to experiment with poisons and other mixtures that were detrimental to angels. For days he had been held up in an abandoned warehouse naked and chained to a cold brick wall. Some days he was beaten and carved into like a Thanksgiving Day turkey. Other days he was treated as sex slave, raped and assaulted by various demons that came and went at their leisure. Those days Assiel prayed for death yearning for Death and its outstretched arms to carry him away. But those pleas seemed to fall on deaf ears every single day.
"Assiel are you alright?" Markus asked seeing the angel's body tense. The angel merely nodded curtly as he pulled out the sword from beneath his jacket gripping the handle so tight his knuckles began turning white. He wanted to run the blade right through Darius for the pain he caused him.
The demons merely grinned as they anticipated the battle ahead.
Alright next update hopefully tomorrow!!! The search is on for Afriel and Sam gets a little bit more insight into his former life!
Metallikirk- Thanks for the review and I do apologize for this late update!